On DVD at Delsa’s house with Lucía (asleep) on 28 May 2008 at around 22:30.
Ace in the Hole is a very dark, cynical film. A deep shade of noir. While perhaps not as extreme as Sweet Smell of Success, it certainly comes close, and is probably more relevant after all these years. Accurately or not, I can’t be sure, Sweet Smell of Success describes in what seems like the starkest possible light, the power of gossip columnists to create and destroy careers, and the unhesitating manner that they do so to further their goals.
If gossip columnists still wield that power, it’s not apparent to me. Media circuses (and this film is just about the purest characterization of a media circus I can imagine), on the other hand, seem stronger than ever, even if they are now more the domain of TV and Internet news than print newspapers (for whom having exclusive access to the subject at the heart of national attention is no longer what makes or breaks each company). The basic mechanics of the story of Ace in the Hole don’t strike me as any more implausible now than then, and if it helps anyone remember to think of the underlying motives of the people telling you the news when you watch it, then the film is certainly still relevant.
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